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MICHIGAN HISTORICAL COMMISSION 
A State Department of History and Archives 



PATRICK SINCLAIR 



By WILLIAM L. JENKS 



ADVANCE PAGES, PROCEEDINGS OF THE MICH- 
IGAN PIONEER AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY 




LANSING, MICHIGAN 

WYNKOOP HALLENBECK CRAWFORD CO., STATE PRINTERS 

1914 



MICHIGAN HISTORICAL COMMISSION 
A State Department of History and Archives 



PATRICK SINCLAIR 



By WILLIAM L. JENKS 



ADVANCE PAGES, PROCEEDINGS OF THE MICH- 
IGAN PIONEER AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY 




LANSING, MICHIGAN 

WYNKOOP HALLENBECK CRAWFORD CO., STATE PRINTERS 

1914 






S|P 23 )9i4 



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GENERAL PATRICK SINCLAIR 



PATRICK SINCLAIR 

BUILDER OF FORT MACKINAC 

By far the most conspicuous object in the Island 
of Mackinac is the old fort which overhangs so pro- 
tectingly the village below. The thick stone and earth 
walls, the three old block houses, built, according 
to the cards upon the doors, in 1780, the old buildings 
within the enclosure, all force the attention of the 
visitor, resident or tourist, to the age of the structure, 
but to few is known even the name, much less any- 
thing of the career of its creator. 

In the extreme Northeast of Scotland lies the 
Shire or County of Caithness; a large part of it low 
and boggy, it rises toward the South and West, and 
contains but three streams of any size, the Wickwater 
and the Forss and Thurso Rivers. Most of the coast line 
is rocky and forbidding and good harbors are few. Near 
the northeast corner is John O'Groat's house, and 
south of that along the East Coast is a large bay 
called Sinclair's Bay. For several centuries the name 
Sinclair or St. Clair — they are in reality the same, 
the latter being nearer to the original Norman form — 
has been the leading one in Caithness; the first earl 
of Caithness, created in 1455, being Sir William 
Sinclair. 

From this shire, forbidding in its natural aspects, 
but like so many other places in Scotland, furnishing 



4 P A T R I C K S I N C L A I R 

an abundant supply of young energetic, capable 
and courageous men, came the subject of this sketch, 
of interest to this part of Michigan, not alone because 
of his connection with Mackinac, but because he was 
the first man to establish a permanent foothold in 
the way of occupation, erecting buildings and culti- 
vating land along St. Clair River. This noble river 
should today bear the name of Sinclair as it did for 
many years a century ago. The present name is 
derived from Arthur St. Clair, first Governor of the 
Northwest territory, the original name passing grad- 
ually through forgetfulness of the one and growing 
importance of the other to its present form. It is 
a curious fact that both Arthur St. Clair and Patrick 
Sinclair were born in the same year in the county of 
Caithness, within twenty-five miles of each other, 
and they were undoubtedly distantly related. 

Whatever the cause, — temperament, roving dis- 
position, hard and forbidding material conditions 
at home, — certain it is that Scotchmen have proved 
through centuries the mainstay of British enterprise 
and glory in foreign lands, and Scotch soldiers and 
explorers have done much to extend England's domains. 

Patrick Sinclair was born in 1736 at Lybster, a 
small hamlet on the east coast of Caithness about 
11 miles southeast of Wick, the chief town of the 
County, and was the only son and oldest of four 
children of Alexander who had married a connection 
in the person of Amelia Sinclair, the daughter of 
another Alexander Sinclair. His father was the fourth 
Sinclair of Lybster and the name Patrick was common 



P A T R I C K S I N C L A I R 5 

in the family, his grandfather bearing it, and his 
great grandmother was the daughter of Patrick 
Sinclair of Ulbster. 

We have no knowledge of his youthful education 
but it must have been considerable as his papers 
and correspondence evince facility in expression, 
clear ideas and a good command of language. 

In July, 1758, Patrick Sinclair purchased a com- 
mission as ensign — practically equivalent to 2nd Lieu- 
tenant, a grade not then existing — in the famous 
42nd Highlanders, or Black Watch Regiment, but 
he may have had some previous service in some 
capacity as in a letter to Gen. Haldimand in August 
1779, he refers to his 25 years service in the army, 
which if not a rhetorical exaggeration would imply 
that he had entered the service in 1754. At any 
rate he soon saw active service, as his regiment was 
sent to the West Indies in 1759, and he participated 
in January of that year in the attack and capture 
of Guadeloupe. Not long after with his regiment 
he went to New York and then to Oswego where they 
spent several months. In July 1760 he was promoted 
to lieutenant and in August his regiment joined the 
army which under the leadership of General Amherst 
invaded Canada and captured Montreal. Later it 
went to Staten Island, and in October, 1761, shortly 
before his regiment left for the West Indies he ex- 
changed into the 15th Regiment of Foot. The 
reason for this exchange is not evident as the 15th 
Foot went to the West Indies the same Fall and in 
August 1763 came back to New York and then to 



6 PATRICKSINCLAIR 

Canada. One Company however of the 15th Regi- 
ment remained in America and it is possible that this 
was Sinclair's Company, as there is some evidence 
that he was at Quebec for a year from October 1761, 
then for a time at New York, and again at Quebec. 
For a part of the time at least he was in Capt. Robert 
Stobo's Company. In the Spring of 1764 Sinclair 
must have been transferred to or connected with 
the Naval Department of the Lakes, as in a petition 
to the Earl of Hillsborough in 1769, he states that 
he "hath served his Majesty near six years last past 
on the Great Lakes in North America where he had 
the honor to command his Majesty's vessels on the 
Lakes Erie, Sinclair, Huron and Michigan," and the 
inscription on a silver bowl presented to him by the 
merchants of Detroit in 1767 refers to him as Captain 
Sinclair of the Naval Department. 

The 15th Regiment of Foot was stationed at various 
posts in Canada, but no part of it as far west as Detroit, 
which was garrisoned mainly from the 60th Regiment 
during the entire period Sinclair was in charge, as 
he says, of the navigation on the lakes: his head- 
quarters however being Detroit. 

Sinclair's duties were general but important, to 
maintain and provision the boats, see to their arming 
and protection against the Indians who were nu- 
merous, and, for sometime after 1763, largely hostile 
to the English, and so dispose the shipping as to 
serve best the interest not only of the various garri- 
sons, but also of the Indian traders and the merchants, 
who of necessity depended upon these boats for the 



PATRICKSINCLAIR 7 

bringing in of their goods and the carrying out of 
their furs. The boats then in use consisted of canoes, 
batteaux, snows, sloops and schooners. The canoe 
was the famed birch bark canoe noted for its carrying 
capacity in proportion to its weight and admirably 
adapted to the carriage of persons but not freight. 
The batteau was a light boat worked with oars, 
long in proportion to its breadth and wider in the 
middle than at the ends. It was well adapted for 
carrying freight, and for some years after the English 
obtained possession of the lakes it was extensively 
used between the posts in transporting both freight 
and passengers. Of necessity the shore was closely 
followed both with batteau and canoe. 

The snow was a type of vessel long since gone out 
of existence, with two ordinary masts and rigged 
much like a brig, but having in addition a small 
mast near the main mast to which the trysail was 
attached. 

All the sailing vessels were of small burden. The 
Schooner Gladwin, famous for her successful at- 
tempt in bringing aid to the beseiged Detroit gar- 
rison was of 80 tons burden. Up to 1780 the largest 
boat on the lakes was the brig Gage of 154 tons, 
built in 1774. 

In the same petition referred to above Sinclair 
states that he is the only person on the lakes who 
has ever explored the navigation of the lakes for 
vessels of burden ''by taking exact soundings of them 
and the rivers and Straits which join them with the 
bearings of the headlands, islands, bays, etc., etc." 



5 P A T R I C K S I N C L A I R 

The beginning of the siege of Detroit by Pontiac 
was signaHzed by the murder by the Indians on May 
7th, 1763, of Capt. Robertson, Sir Robert Davers, 
six soldiers and a boat's crew of two sailors while 
engaged in taking soundings near the mouth of the 
"River Huron" as the account states it, now called 
St. Clair River, to see if the lakes and rivers were 
navigable for a schooner then lying at Detroit on her 
way to Mackinac. 

As a means of facilitating his duties, especially 
in regard to the communications between Detroit 
and the upper lakes, Sinclair erected in 1764 a 
small fort just south of the mouth of Pine River 
in St. Clair County, the buildings comprising two 
barracks, one for sailors and one for soldiers, two 
block houses for cannon and small arms, and a wharf 
for drawing out and careening vessels, all enclosed 
within a stockade. This post, about midway between 
lakes Huron and St. Clair, enabled him to control 
the river as regards the Indians, and also furnished 
a place for trade with them. This establishment 
was ordered and approved by Col. Bradstreet who 
was in Detroit in August, 1764. 

In connection with his duties while stationed on 
the Lakes he made a trip of exploration down in the 
Indiana Country along the Wabash river, thus ac- 
quiring considerable knowledge of the French settle- 
ments in that vicinity. 

Sinclair seems on the whole to have got along 
with the Indians very satisfactorily, and to have 
obtained their respect and liking and to have es- 




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PATRICKSINCLAIR 9 

tablished a widespread reputation to that effect. He 
was not entirely free from troubles however, as in 
1767, the Chippewas or Mississaguas murdered a 
servant of his near the foot of Lake Huron. The 
murderers were apprehended and sent to Albany 
for trial but were finally released to his indignation. 

In 1767 the system of operating boats on the Lakes 
was changed and delivered over to private contractors, 
and Sinclair's duties and official position terminated 
but it required some time to close out his matters, 
and when in the early summer of 1768 his regiment 
returned to England he remained upon the Lakes, 
and did not return to England until the spring of 
the following year. That his conduct of affairs 
while in charge was acceptable to the class with whom 
he came most in contact outside of his government 
relations is proved by the presentation to him in 
1767 of a silver bowl — still preserved in the family — 
with the following inscription engraved upon it: 
* ' In remembrance of the encouragement experienced 
upon all occasions by the merchants in the Indian 
countries from Capt. Patrick Sinclair of the Naval 
Department, not as a reward for his services, but a 
public testimony of their gratitude this is presented 
instead of a more adequate acknowledgment which 
his disinterested disposition renders impracticable. 
Dated the 23rd September, 1767." The merchants 
of Mackinac also gave him a testimonial. 

Sinclair had erected the buildings and made the 
improvements at his fort mainly at his own expense, 
and in March, 1769, he applied to Gen. Gage then 



10 PATRICKSINCLAIR 

commanding the British forces in America, to be 
reimbursed for his outlays — £200, but Gage replied 
that the Government had not directed the construc- 
tion and therefore Sinclair could do with the im- 
provements what he saw fit. Perhaps in anticipation 
of such result and as a measure of self protection 
Sinclair had obtained from the Indians a deed to a 
tract of land upon the St. Clair River, 2J miles along 
the river by the same in depth to include his im- 
provements. This deed is dated July 27th, 1768, 
and was signed by Massigiash and Ottawa, chiefs 
of the Chippewa Nation, in the presence of 15 Indians 
of that Nation and of George Turnbull, Captain of 
the Second Battalion of the 60th Regiment, George 
Archbold, Lieutenant, and ensigns Robert Johnson 
and John Amiel of the same Regiment, also of John 
Lewis Gage, Ensign of the 31st Regiment, and Lieut. 
John Hay of the 60th Regiment, Commissary of 
Indian affairs. In the deed the land is described 
as being *'on the Northwest side of the River Huron, 
between Lake Huron and Lake Sinclair, being one 
mile above the mouth of a small river commonly 
called Pine River and ending one mile and a half 
below the mouth of said Pine River." The con- 
sideration stated is "the love and regard we bear 
for our friend Lieut. Patrick Sinclair and for the 
love and esteem the whole of our said nation has 
for him for the many charitable acts he has done us, 
our wives and children." 

The King of England in his proclamation of October 
3rd 1763, estabhshing the province of Quebec, had 



P A T R I C K S I N C L A I R 11 

expressly prohibited the obtaining of deeds from 
the Indians except under special Hcense, and through 
certain officials. This deed, therefore, although ex- 
ecuted with considerable formality, and in the presence 
of the highest British Officials in the vicinity, did 
not operate to convey any legal title and this was 
recognized by Sinclair himself in 1774, in a petition 
to the government to be reimbursed for his expendi- 
tures on the property. 

The property thus obtained was of sufficient size 
and quality to entitle him to consideration among 
the land owners of his native home, and he improved 
it by clearing, by setting out an orchard on the north 
side of Pine River, and by additional buildings. 
It included a considerable bpdy of pine and it is a 
curious fact that this marked on the East side of 
Michigan the Southern line of the great pine section 
of the lower peninula. During the period of his station 
at Detroit, Sinclair used the fort, buildings and pinery, 
but it is not known who looked after it during his 
absence from this locality after leaving in 1769 
to 1779 when he arrived at Mackinac, but in 1780 
Francis Bellecour, the British Indian Agent at Detroit, 
was ■ in charge. He evidently was not giving satis- 
faction to the Indians in the vicinity, as in July of 
that year Maskeash, one of the Chiefs who signed 
the deed, with his wife and ten other Indians from 
along St. Clair River, went up on one of the govern- 
ment vessels, commanded by Alex Harrow, to Fort 
Mackinac to ask that Baptiste Point de (or du) 
Sable, be appointed to take charge of the property 



12 PATRICKSINCLAIR 

in place of Bellecour. deSable was a free mulatto 
who had traded with the Indians at the lower end 
of Lake Michigan, and as he was friendly to the 
Americans had been captured in 1779 by a British 
force from Fort Mackinac on the ground of his being 
a sympathizer with the American Rebels, and taken 
to Mackinac and detained. By his conduct after 
his capture he commended himself to his captors 
and to Sinclair then Lieutenant Governor and as 
a result he was released and sent down to look after 
this property and trade with the Indians. He did 
not remain there long, however, but returned to 
Illinois and continued at Peoria and Chicago until 
his death in 1811. 

Although not in chronological order the subsequent 
history of this tract may be here narrated. 

In 1783 Lieut. Governor Sinclair was living on the 
Isle of Orleans awaiting a decision upon the allowance 
of his accounts. A young man by the name of Nicholas 
Boilvin who was a native of the parish of St. Nicholas 
near Quebec, decided to try his fortunes in the far 
west, and May 1st., 1783, Sinclair gave to him a 
power of attorney to take charge of his farm on Pine 
River, his "stock, houses, barns, orchards, gardens, 
timber and every other article thereto appertaining." 
The same instrument recommended Boilvin to the 
protection of the officers at Detroit, so that all other 
persons might be prevented from cutting timber 
or trading near the post to Boilvin's detriment. 

Boilvin on reaching Detroit, decided to go still 



PATRICK SINCLAIR 13 

farther west and September 20th, 1783, he assigned 
his power of attorney to David Ross and shortly after 
went to St. Louis, and became an Indian agent of 
the United States and later removed to Prairie du 
Chien, where he was for many years a person of 
some consequence. 

In 1788, Sinclair's rights were sold at auction 
and bought by Meldrum & Park, a firm of merchants 
and Indian traders of Detroit who went into possession 
of the property, made improvements and erected 
two saw mills, and a grist mill. 

In 1795, as the Indian deed to Sinclair had never 
been registered, but taken by him to England, finally 
finding its way to the Public Record ofhce in London, 
they obtained another deed from twenty six Chippewa 
Chiefs, purporting to be in confirmation of the former 
deed to Sinclair, but the new deed conveyed a tract 
ten miles along St. Clair River by four miles in depth 
or about six times as much land. This seems to 
have been in accordance with the usual way of honesty 
and fairness with which the white man treated the 
Indian. This deed was not recognized by the United 
States as a conveyance of title, but the possessions 
taken under it enabled Meldrum & Park and their 
grantees to obtain patents from the United States 
in 1810 to nearly five thousand acres. 

In 1768 or 9 Sinclair petitioned the Earl of Hills- 
borough, then Secretary for the Colonies, for the 
appointment of Superintendent of Navigation upon 
the Lakes, pointing out his experience, his successful 



14 PATRICKSINCLAIR 

services and the great need of such an official to 
protect the interests of the government, but the 
petition was refused, much to Sinclair's disappointment. 

It is not known exactly when he returned to Eng- 
land and his regiment, but sometime in the Spring 
of 1769 and was engaged in recruiting for upwards of 
a year. 

In May 1771 he applied to the Earl of Hillsborough 
for the grant of a house at Detroit belonging to the 
Crown in lieu of his buildings at Pine River, the 
matter was referred to Gen. Gage, then at New York, 
who promised to look into the matter and see if that 
could be done without injury but apparently the 
inquiry was never made and nothing came of the 
petition. 

He was promoted to Captain April 13, 1772, and 
the next year retired with the provision that he would 
not lose his rank if he rejoined the army. Upon his 
retirement Sinclair returned to his ancestral home 
at Lybster, but time moved slowly there to a man 
accustomed for years to the wilderness and freedom 
of the Great Lakes in America and to the power and 
influence which Sinclair had been wont to exercise 
and directly upon his retirement he began exerting 
influence to get back to this country. On June 
1st 1773, Sir Charles Thompson who had been for 
7 years the Colonel of the 15th Regiment, and who 
was an intimate personal friend of the King, wrote 
Lord Dartmouth in his behalf, recommending him 
as a proper person for appointment in Pennsylvania, 
the Jerseys, New York and the New England Pro- 



PATRICKSINCLAIR 15 

vinces, but nothing came of it. The government 
had never recognized his title to his land in America, 
nor had it ever repaid his outlays upon it, and in 
December, 1774 he applied for payment not only 
of these charges, but also for £56 which he paid to 
the Indians in redemption of white captives. In the 
same account he includes £27 for his expenses caused 
by his being detained in the west when his regiment 
was sent to Europe and £70 for two servants killed 
by the Indians. In February, 1775, his same kind 
and influential friend wrote again to Lord Dartmouth 
recommending Captain Sinclair for employment in 
Canada. This time the fates were propitious and 
prompt, as on April 7th, 1775, he was commissioned 
by King George III, as Lieutenant Governor and 
Superintendent of the Post of A-Iissillimakinac. 

By the Proclamation of 1763 the Province of Quebec 
was established with such boundaries that practically 
all the Great Lake region lay outside, and therefore 
without any established form of government, which 
remained essentially military, without courts or or- 
dinary civil officers. The Quebec Act, passed by 
Parliament and effective in October, 1774, greatly 
extended the limits of the Province so as to reach 
the Ohio on the South and the Mississippi on the 
west. By this Act a form of government by Governor 
and Council was provided and the old French laws 
recognized. 

Although the act itself made no reference to or 
provision for the western posts, the King in April, 
1775, recognized four western districts or posts, and 



16 PATRICKSINCLAIR 

appointed as many Lieutenant Governors or Super- 
intendents, one each to the posts of Detroit, Missih- 
makinac, St. Vincennes, and the lUinois. These 
appointees were respectively Henry Hamilton, Patrick 
Sinclair, Edward Abbott and Matthew Johnson. 
There was no attempt made to define the limits of 
each district, but ordinarily no question could arise 
over conflict of jurisdiction. There was in each 
case a fortified post, which formed the center of 
operations. There was, however, a clear distinction 
between the Post or District, and the fortified place; 
thus in the case of Sinclair, his seat of operations was 
Fort Mackinac, while his post was Missillimakinac, 
and extended to cover the territory of all the Indians 
who were wont to come to that point to trade. 

In the commission appointing Sinclair Lieutenant 
Governor there was no definition of his powers but 
he was to hold the position with all its "rights, pri- 
vileges, profits, perquisites and advantages during 
the King's pleasure.!' The incumbent, however, was 
required to obey such orders and directions as he 
might receive from time to time from the Captain 
General and Commander in Chief of Quebec. 

As there was no statute or general regulation upon 
the subject, the relation of the Lieutenant Governor, 
a civil officer, to the military force stationed at his 
post was indefinite and at Detroit was productive of 
considerable trouble. 

Anxious to arrive at his post of duty promptly, 
there being no direct shipping from Glasgow to Quebec, 



PATRICKSINCLAIR 17 

Sinclair sailed for Baltimore, where he arrived July 
26th, 1775, and at New York August 1st, His pur- 
pose then was to go up the Hudson to Albany, thence 
to Oswego, and from there by boat to Quebec, and 
he made all preparation to leave New York August 
4th, but on that day the Provincial Congress of New 
York then in session, having learned the previous 
day of his presence in the city, and of his great in- 
fluence with the Indians, thought it unwise to permit 
him to go to his post where he might prejudice his 
Indian friends against the Colonies, and took him 
in custody and sent him on parole to Nassau Island 
in Suffolk County, Long Island, where he remained 
until the following March, when upon his application 
to be permitted to retire to Europe, the Continental 
Congress granted his petition and he returned to 
England that summer. 

It apparently was rather difficult to get passage 
back to America, as in May 1777 we find Lord George 
Germaine then Secretary of the Colonies granting 
Sinclair permission in response to request to come 
over in the packet Bristol rather than as "an un- 
welcome guest in a man-of-war." 

He did not reach America until the fall of 1777, 
this time at Philadelphia where he went with letters 
to Sir William Howe who advised him that his best 
plan to reach his post of duty via Quebec was to go 
by way of the St. Lawrence River the following 
spring. Accordingly he spent the winter with Lord 
Howe and when the English fleet and forces left 



18 PATRICKSINCLAIR 

for England in May 1778, Capt. Sinclair went as far 
as Halifax, where he was again compelled to wait 
until he could obtain transportation to Quebec. 

Communications between Halifax and Quebec were 
infrequent and slow and it was not until June, 1779, 
that Capt. Sinclair arrived at Quebec and was ready 
to present himself and his commission to the Governor 
and receive his instructions and proceed to his post, 
although he had sent a communication to the Governor 
from Halifax in October of the year before. 

At this time Sir Frederick Haldimand was Governor 
General. He was of Swiss birth, and after some 
years service in the Prussian army joined the British 
forces in 1754 and was rapidly promoted. He was 
an efficient officer and a good soldier, but his character 
and training both emphasized the military over the 
civil power. And on more than one occasion he 
received severe reprimands from the English govern- 
ment because of actions due to this feeling. 

The officer then in command at Fort Mackinac 
was Maj. Arent Schuyler DePeyster who had been 
there for five years. He was a capable officer, quite 
influential with the Indians and tactful in his inter- 
course with others. He was gifted in a literary 
way, and although of American birth had strong 
English sympathies, serving in the English army during 
the Revolutionary War, and upon retirement from 
the army went to Dunfries, Scotland, his wife's native 
place, where he became a close friend of the Poet 
Bums. For some time De Peyster had been desirous 
of leaving Mackinac, giving as his reasons that his 



PATRICKSINCLAIR 19 

health was poor and that his private affairs at New 
York — where his family had long been established— 
sadly needed his presence but his real reason was the 
distance of his post from civilization as no further 
complaints were heard from him after he was trans- 
ferred to Detroit. 

It is probable that Haldimand and Sinclair had 
met before. In 1760 Haldimand, as heutenant Colonel, 
accompanied the British force from Oswego to Mont- 
real and Sinclair's regiment the 15th Foot, was a part 
of the force. Although Sinclair arrived in Quebec 
early in June, 1779 and undoubtedly presented him- 
self promptly with his commission and a letter from 
Germaine, which stated that as Lieutenant Governor 
he would have command over the military force 
stationed there, as well as civil authority, the 
Governor General who did not relish the idea of 
Sinclair's exercising military as well as civil powers 
at his post put him off on various pretences for over 
a month — in the meantime writing to DePeyster 
that he intended to delay Sinclair until the ships' 
arrival from England in mid-summer, hoping perhaps 
to receive by then some authority to reduce or negative 
the instructions in Lord Germaine's letter. The 
ships arrived, but nothing to favor his wishes: he 
thereupon wrote to England, commenting upon the 
union of the civil and military authority in one person 
but the reply received the following year made plain 
that the action of the government in this respect was 
fully considered and would not be altered. 

In the meantime Haldimand issued a set of instruc- 



20 PATRICKSINCLAIR 

tions for Sinclair, in which, disobeying the express 
terms of Lord Germaine's letter, he authorized Sin- 
clair to act as Commandant only until a senior officer 
of the garrison stationed there should arrive, and 
impressed upon him that only such senior officer 
had power over the troops to be sent beyond garrison 
limits, and in addition the perquisites attached to 
the commander of the post were to go to the officer. 

Naturally such instructions proved very distasteful 
to Sinclair who at once addressed a spirited remons- 
trance to the Governor. After some vigorous corres- 
pondence, in which Sinclair proposed to return to 
England rather than occupy a position which might 
be humiliating, the matter was compromised; the 
instructions were somewhat modified, and it was 
represented to him that there was in fact no senior 
officer at the post and an early opportunity would 
be given to purchase a commission as officer which 
would entitle him to outrank anyone who would be 
sent to the garrison. 

With these assurances he left Quebec the last of 
August 1779 for his post, and arrived at Fort Mackinac 
October 4th, 1779, probably by way of the Ottawa 
River, 4| years after the date of his commission. 
He had crossed the ocean three times and while until 
this date he had not been able to exercise any authority 
m'lder his commission he had not neglected one im- 
portant part of his duty, to draw his annual salary of 
£200. 

Three days after his arrival. Major DePeyster 
left for Detroit, and Sinclair was free to examine 



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PATRICKSINCLAIR 21 

his empire. The fort was on the mainland on the 
south side of the strait, and practically in the same 
condition as it existed in 1763 at the time of its capture 
by the Indians. It enclosed about two acres and 
the ramparts consisted solely of pickets driven into 
the ground. It was on the sand and so near the 
shore that the waves in time of storm dashed over the 
pickets. The practiced eye of Capt. Sinclair at once 
noted its insecure condition, its inability to resist 
any attack but that of small arms, and that it could 
not afford protection to vessels. In a letter to Capt. 
Brehm, aide to Gov. Haldimand, written four days 
after his arrival he suggested the removal of the 
fort to the Island of Michilimackinac, and pointed 
out at some length the many advantages which the 
island possessed in the way of easy construction 
of a defensible fort, the protection of vessels, and 
good building material "but for God's sake be care- 
ful in the choice of an engineer and don't send up 
one of your paper engineers fond of fine regular poly- 
gons." 

In another letter to Brehm a week later he returned 
to the subject and urged prompt action. "It is the 
most respectable situation I ever saw, besides con- 
venient for the subsistence of a Garrison, the safety 
of troops, traders and commerce." 

Without waiting for authority from the Governor 
which could not be expected to be received until 
the following Spring, Sinclair proceeded to set men 
at work on the island clearing, making shingles, 
pickets, etc., and by February had so much done 



22 



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24 PATRICKSINCLAIR 

that he set about moving the French Church over 
to the Island and persuaded the traders and Canadians 
— as the French were generally called — that the 
removal was not only desirable but certain. 

In May 1780 came the consent of the Governor 
to the change with the information that he had so 
much confidence in the Lieut. Governor's engineering 
abilities that no other engineer would be sent. Sin- 
clair soon found, however, that with the limited 
means at his command in masons and artificers it 
would not be possible to complete the new fort suffi- 
ciently to move into it during that season, and he 
accordingly took all steps to put the mainland fort 
into the best possible condition to repel attack which 
he feared might come from the "rebels" — friends and 
adherents of the U. S. — and their Indian friends. 

In the meantime Sinclair had obtained the desired 
reinstatement in military rank so he was properly 
styled the Commandant — as well as Lieutenant Gov- 
ernor, — thus uniting the military and civil powers 
of the post. It so happened that Capt. George 
McDougall of the 84th Regiment, had been for some 
time anxious to sell out and retire on account of his 
health, but as he was an active and efficient officer, well 
liked by the Indians, the Governor was loath to 
permit him to go. However, in the Spring of 1780, 
on the representation of failing health, permission 
was granted him to sell out and Lieut. Patrick Sin- 
clair became the purchaser and a Captain again in 
the British Army, his commission being dated from 
April 1, 1780. 



PATRICKSINCLAIR 25 

Sinclair received notice of his appointment July 
8, and it evidently was a source of much satisfaction 
to him as he signed his letters for a time "Patt. Sin- 
clair, Capt. 84th Reg't & Lieut. Gov." 

It was not long before an affair justified his insist- 
ence with Gov. Haldimand upon the propriety and 
necessity of the provisions in Lord Germaine's letter. 
Capt. Mompesson of the 8th Reg., then at Detroit, 
was ordered by Maj. DePeyster to take a part of 
his company to Mackinac to relieve a company of 
Grenadiers. Upon his arrival, Aug. 21st, 1780 he 
immediately refused to take orders from Sinclair 
and the next day issued a Regimental order that 
he expected obedience to his commands from the 
troops in the garrison. Both officers wrote at once 
to the Governor who immediately decided that Capt. 
Sinclair was in the right, that his former rank as 
Captain in the 15th Regiment had been preserved 
upon his leaving that regiment, and he therefore 
clearly outranked Capt. Mompesson. The Governor 
in his letter to Sinclair about the matter added that 
he had at length obtained his Majesty's decision 
upon the disputed rank of Lieutenant Governors 
of the posts, this decision was in fact merely a con- 
firmation of Lord George Germaine's letter. 

Another episode happened at this time not cal- 
culated to soothe a somewhat peppery disposition 
and one regardful of the dignity and authority of 
its owner. Capt. Alex Harrow of the Schooner 
Welcome, arrived July 29th, 1780, and assumed as 
superior in naval command to give an order to Capt. 



26 PATRICKSINCLAIR 

McKay of the Felicity which had been plying chiefly 
between the post and the Island. (Captain Harrow 
was a Scotchman who came to the Great Lakes in 
1776 as an officer in the naval department, and in 
1794 settled in St. Clair County on a large tract 
of land lying a short distance above Algonac and 
upon a part of which descendants of his are now 
living.) The Lieutenant Governor resented this in- 
terference with his own authority, and as both men 
were tenacious of their dignity, it resulted in Harrow 
being taken from his vessel and imprisoned in the 
fort. After confinement of a month or two the 
authority of Sinclair was confirmed by the Governor, 
and Harrow through the good nature of Sinclair 
who though quick to anger was equally quick to 
relent, was released and reinstated in command of 
his vessel. 

The command of a post so distant and isolated 
as that of Mackinac was a severe test of the qualities 
of promptness, decision, judgment and tact, and an 
early opportunity displayed Sinclair's possession of 
the first two qualities in ample quantity. After 
France embraced the cause of the United States she 
endeavored to get Spain to do the same, but the 
latter, though aiding the Americans in many ways, 
including the sale of a large quantity of gunpowder 
at New Orleans, made no formal declaration of war 
until May 8, 1779. Lord Germaine either devised 
or adopted a plan to drive the Spanish out of Louis- 
iana and on June 17, 1779, wrote Gen. Haldimand, 
directing him in co-operation with Brig. Gen. Camp- 



PATRICKSINCLAIR 27 

bell to attack New Orleans and the other Spanish 
posts on the Mississippi River. 

Haldimand issued a circular letter to the Governors 
of all the Western posts giving general instructions. 
This letter after passing from Col. Bolton at Niagara 
to Maj. DePeyster at Detroit, was forwarded by 
the latter Jan. 22, 1780, to Sinclair at Mackinac. 
The day after its receipt Sinclair sent a war party 
to engage the Sioux Indians to proceed down the 
Mississippi River. He also ordered Mr. Hesse, a 
trader, but formerly in the army, to collect a force 
of Indians and supplies in Wisconsin for the same 
purpose. A few days later he dispatched a sergeant 
with Machiquawish, a noted Indian Chief, and his 
band. The combined force made an attack on St. 
Louis which was only partially successful, and the 
project as a whole was a failure, the result being to 
leave the district South of Lake Michigan and as 
far West as the Mississippi River in American control. 
Sinclair shows up, however, very favorably in the 
affair, and if the King had been as well served else- 
where the result might have been very different. 

The removal to the Island fort was made in the 
summer of 1781, although the fort was not entirely 
completed. It contained four block houses, three 
of which built in 1780 are still standing; the fourth 
which stood near the southeast corner was later 
removed. The walls have since been widened and 
raised, and the roadway from the lower town brought 
nearer to the face of the hill and parallel to it, and 
lengthened so as to reduce the grade. The officers' 



28 



PATRICK SINCLAIR 



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PATRICKSINCLAIR 29 

quarters stand where they were originally constructed 
and the guard house built in 1835 is on the site of 
the one built by Sinclair. The general plan however 
of the fort remains substantially the same today as 
when it was originally constructed 134 years ago, 
except that the North wall toward the West is brought 
in, thus contracting the enclosure by about one -fourth. 

Sinclair proposed to call the new fort "Haldimand" 
after the Governor, but the latter decided that the 
fort should be called Fort "Makinac," and the post 
should be continued to be called Michilimackinac, 
thus indicating that the post, meaning the civil juris- 
diction, was more extensive than the fort which 
included only the garrison limits. The Governor's 
spelling of the name of the fort was never carried 
out but the name of the post continued as long as 
the British retained control. When they left and 
the Americans took possession, the post, as such, 
ceased, and both island and fort took the same name, 
Mackinac. 

Sinclair, as a means of propitiating the Indians 
and securing their approval of removal to the Island, 
had negotiated with some of the Chiefs for a deed 
which he finally obtained in May, 1781. By this 
deed five Chiefs of the Chippewa nation relinquished 
to Lieut. Gov. Sinclair for the behalf and use of the 
English King, the Island of Michilimackinac, and 
agreed to preserve in their village a belt of wampum 
7 feet in length to perpetuate and be a lasting me- 
morial of the transaction. The consideration was 
£5000 N. Y. currency (equal to $12500). The deed 



30 PATRICKSINCLAIR 

was signed with the totems of the Chiefs, also by 
Patt. Sinclair, Lt. Gov'r & Commandant, Capt. 
Mompesson, Lieut. Brooke and Ensign McDonall, 
and witnessed by six of the resident traders. 

The work of completing the fort went on slowly 
as the Commandant could not get the necessary 
workmen. Maj. Depeyster at Detroit was not feel- 
ing very friendly to Sinclair and when requested to 
send artificers reported that he could not spare any, 
and in August, Brig. Gen. Powell was compelled to 
peremptorily order him to send up two carpenters. 
During the years of the construction of the fort an 
unusually large number of Indians came to Mackinac 
from all quarters to receive their annual presents 
from the British Government. Sioux, Menominies, 
Sacs, Foxes, Ottawas and Chippewas, Winebagoes 
and all other tribes between the Great Lakes and the 
Mississippi, and even beyond, had become accus- 
tomed to make an annual pilgrimage to Michili- 
mackinac to meet the representative of their Great 
Father across the water and receive in return an 
outfit which would please their sense of display and 
enable them to support life until another season. The 
coming of the white man and the introduction of 
strong drink and of fire arms had completely revolu- 
tionized the status of the Indians-. From an inde- 
pendent self supporting people procuring their spare 
and difficult livelihood by the exercise of natural 
talents heightened by ever present necessity, they 
had become dependent for clothing and means of 
obtaining food. No longer were their own developed 



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P A T R I C K S I N C L A I R 31 

weapons sufficient. They needed guns, powder and 
shot to kill the animals whose flesh gave them food 
and whose skins gave the furs the white man coveted 
and was willing to pay for. 

The French had found it advantageous to give 
the Indians some presents to stimulate and maintain 
their friendship, but the English found it necessary 
to give far more. The French, by their willingness 
to live the life of the Indians, to intermarry with 
them, and by their understanding and appreciation 
of Indian nature, were naturally regarded as their 
friends, and in the long French and English war 
the sympathies of the Western Indians were with 
the former and Pontiac found it easy to obtain the 
adherence of the most of the tribes. When the 
English obtained possession of the western posts, 
they thought it wise to conciliate the Indians by 
presents, and as time wen^t on the number of Indians 
who applied for gifts aUd the extent of their demands 
increased until it became appalling to the British 
authorities. An additional reason why, during the 
period of Gov. Sinclair's station at Mackinac a larger 
amount of presents was needed than in ordinary 
times was that owing to the Revolutionary War the 
English feared — and with good reason — that the 
French were in the main, friendly to the Americans, 
and would use their influence with the Indians to 
turn the latter against the English, and if this should 
happen all the western posts would inevitably fall 
into the hands of the Americans. 

The three posts on the lakes to which the Indians 



32 PATRICKSINCLAIR 

resorted in large numbers for supplies were Niagara, 
Detroit and Michilimackinac. One of the articles 
most in demand was rum, and as an illustration, it 
appears that there was consumed during the year 
from June 1780 to June 1781, at the three posts 
19386 gallons of this article euphemistically called 
"milk" at the Indian pow wows and this does not 
include the large amount used and furnished by 
the traders. 

The class of other articles sent by the Government 
as presents can be seen from the return showing that 
in 1781 there was sent to Lieut. Gov. Sinclair for 
Indian presents, 991 pairs of blankets, mostly 2^ and 
3 point, 102 dozen calico shirts, and 50 doz. linen 
ones, laced hats, feathers, looking glasses, knives, 
tomahawks, medals, needles and thread, axes, razors, 
brass and copper kettles, tobacco, powder, shot and 
guns, and a host of other minor articles. 

It happened not infrequently that the supply of 
goods furnished by the government became low, 
or was very late in arriving at the post and as the 
presents must be made when the Indians were there, 
the officers at the posts had been in the habit of 
buying from the traders such articles as they thought 
to be absolutely necessary and in consequence they 
often were compelled to pay high prices. These 
purchases as well as all other outlays were met by 
drafts drawn by the Lieut. Governor upon the Gov- 
ernor General. 

In order to prevent a further continuance of this 
practice and reduce if possible the great and increasing 



PATRICKSINCLAIR 33 

expenses of the Western posts, on June 22nd, 1781, 
Gov. Haldiniand issued orders that the officers at 
Niagara, Detroit and Michihmackinac should, on 
no account whatever, after receipt of the order, pur- 
chase liquors or any other articles whatever for the 
use of the Indians from the Traders, and that no 
circumstances whatever would be admitted a reason 
for not complying with the order. 

Lieut. Gov. Sinclair did not observe this order 
very closel}^ evidently believing that this order was 
only intended for ordinary occasions, and that as he 
was on the ground he was entitled to use his judgment 
even if it resulted in violating orders made at a great 
distance. 

During the years 1780, 1781, 1782 the new fort 
was under construction, and in 1781 Sinclair drew 
on the Governor General drafts to the amount of 
£43,000, N. Y. cy., for the engineering works and 
£65,000 for the Indian Department. This was an 
increase over the preceding year of £18,000 in the 
latter and nearly £35,000 in the former, which, how- 
ever, was probably not unexpected as much more 
work was done on the new fort in 1781 than in 1780. 
In 1782 the Lieut. Governor drew for immense sums 
in both departments; in January one draft went 
forward for over £43,000 to be charged against the 
fort building, and to this no objection seems to have 
been made. On the same day, however, he drew 
£11,450 on account of Indian expenditures, and when 
this draft was presented to Haldimand he refused 
to accept it, and referred the accounts to Mr. Goddard, 



34 PATRICKSINCLAIR 

general storekeeper and inspector of Indian presents, 
with instructions to charge out all articles he might 
consider presents to the Indians. He later requested 
advice from his Attorney General upon the question 
whether he could legally pay part of the account, 
without acknowledging the whole. Apparently he 
was advised that he might safely pay part as he 
did pay over £9000. 

In April Sinclair drew drafts to the amount of 
£14,500 of which £9,500 was on account of the fort 
and was paid, and £5,000 for Indian expenditures 
which was paid in part. In July he drew for over 
£60,000 of which £40,000 was for the Indian depart- 
ment and the remainder for the Fort construction, 
about one-half of these drafts were accepted and the 
others refused and protested. Although the Com- 
mandant at Detroit was at the same time also drawing 
heavily, in 1781, £162,000 and in 1782, £66,000 
nearly all of which was on Indian account — none of 
his bills were refused. 

In August, 1782, Haldimand alarmed at these 
enormous expenditures which were affecting his own 
standing with the authorities in London appointed 
Lieut. Col. Henry Hope, Sir John Johnson, Supt. of 
Indian affairs, and James S. Goddard, to go to Mack- 
inac and examine into the situation. They arrived 
September 15th and found a number of irregularities. 
There evidently had been looseness and carelessness 
in the keeping and checking of accounts, and the 
instructions of Gov. Haldimand had not been fol- 
lowed with regard to the purchase of articles from. 



PATRICKSINCLAIR 35 

the traders. One of the perquisites which had been 
enjoyed and which though profitable to the Lieut. 
Governor, was detrimental to the public interests, 
was the reception by that official of presents from the 
Indians, generally in the nature of furs which naturally 
called for increased presents to the Indians, paid for 
by the Government. It is apparent however, that 
Sinclair's actions had some justification. Supplies 
ordered by him had not been sent, or were damaged 
in transit, or were so greatly delayed as not to arrive 
in time for distribution to the Indians, and the Com- 
mandant was obliged to choose between disappointing 
and alienating the Indians — a consequence of much 
importance until the Revolutionary War was ended — 
or purchase goods from the traders. 

Most of these drafts which were objected to were 
drawn in favor of George McBeath to be used by 
him in the payment of the various traders who had 
furnished articles. McBeath had been sent up by 
Haldimarid for the very purpose of taking charge of 
these expenditures and evidently thought them proper 
and necessary. 

A few days after the arrival of the investigating 
Board, Sinclair turned over the command of the 
post to Capt. Robertson, the next ranking officer 
of the garrison, and left for Quebec arriving in October. 
The fort was not yet entirely completed. A careful 
survey made at the time by an engineer indicated the 
extent of the work done, and estimated that with 100 
laborers and the necessary artificers the fort could be 
put into a safe condition in about two months. As 



36 PATRICKSINCLAIR 

nearly $300,000 had then been spent upon its construc- 
tion without serious objection by the English authori- 
ties it may be easily conceived that they regarded the 
post as of high importance. 

November 1st, Sinclair applied to Governor Haldi- 
mand for permission to go to Great Britain, which was 
refused on the ground that he was needed for the 
examination of his accounts. He then took up his 
residence on the Isle of Orleans, awaiting action on 
this matter, and there he remained until the fall 
of 1784, when he finally obtained the desired per- 
mission and left for England. 

In the meantime Haldimand wrote in October 1782 
to the English Treasury stating what he had done 
and that he would investigate and report. In Novem- 
ber, he followed this by an explanation of his reasons 
which were in the main that Sinclair had acted con- 
trary to the order of June, 1781 in buying Indian 
presents from the traders. He also promised to 
have the matter carefully looked into. A year went 
by without any action whatever and in October, 
1783, Haldimand wrote the Treasury that he was 
waiting with great impatience for instructions. To 
this the Lords of the Treasury replied that he had 
failed to give them the information which he had 
promised, and which they needed before giving full 
instructions. In January, 1784, the Treasury re- 
ceived remonstrances from the merchants whose 
bills were unpaid, and they wrote Haldimand that 
such parts of the bills as represented articles fur- 
nished and labor performed should be paid for at 



PATRICKSINCLAIR 37 

the usual rates. In July, 1784, Haldimand wrote 
that he had offered £22,000 upon bills drawn for 
£57,000, and that his offer had been refused and 
he had been threatened with prosecution by the 
claimants. 

In the meantime Sinclair was eating out his heart 
on the Isle of Orleans. Prevented from going to 
England and meeting his family and friends, feeling 
the hostility of the Governor General, receiving the 
frequent importunities of the unfortunate traders, 
who had parted with their goods, but had not received 
their money, it is not to be wondered at that he fell 
into a state of deep and settled melancholy, and that 
even to his best friends his faculties began to seem 
impaired. Representations were made to the Gov- 
ernor General and in August, 1784 he' was allowed 
to return to England in company with Capt. Erskine 
Hope and his wife who was a connection of Sinclair. 
The trip and his surroundings and his friends and 
relatives in Scotland where he at once repaired upon 
his arrival in England restored his health. In No- 
vember Haldimand himself left Canada for England, 
arriving at London in January 1785. As soon as 
Sinclair heard of this he left at once for London de- 
termined to have his affairs settled, and arrived there 
February 28, 1785. He was delayed in meeting 
Haldimand however, by being arrested by some 
of the holders of the protested Mackinac bills and 
thrown into Newgate prison, from which he was 
released on March 17th by his paying the bills. He 
immediately demanded of Haldimand that the latter 



38 PATRICKSINCLAIR 

repay the amount at once, or he would apply for a 
Court Martial. Apparently neither action was taken 
but early in April Haldimand was sued for £50,000 
and he at once called upon the Government to defend 
him. In the following year the action was dismissed, 
and the claimants appealed to Government for their 
pay. 

The result of this application is unknown but the 
standing of Sinclair with the English authorities does 
not seem to have been impaired by all these proceed- 
ings. While at Mackinac he had advanced in military 
rank, having become a Major in 1782. The next 
year his regiment, the 84th was disbanded. His 
absence from his post as Lieut. Governor did not 
affect his title or his salary except the allowance 
which he drew as commanding officer. In August 
1784, the Gov. General was careful to impress upon 
Capt. Robertson, then commanding at Mackinac, 
that his authority was merely in the absence of the 
Lieut. Governor. 

In October, 1793, Sinclair was made a Colonel, 
The post of Michilimackinac was transferred in June 
1796, to the Americans, and although Sinclair had 
not set foot in it since he left in August, 1782, he had 
continued to draw his yearly salary of £200 with great 
regularity. According to modern ideas this would 
have been an unjustifiable sinecure, but that was 
an age of sinecures and it was acknowledged that 
an office was a vested right of which no possessor 
should be deprived without the payment of com- 
pensation. Accordingly, it is not surprising to find 



PATRICKSINCLAIR 39 

that in April, 1797, Col. Sinclair, then in London, 
petitioned the Duke of Portland, Secretary of State, 
that as he had been at great pains in fortifying and 
defending the post of Michilimackinac, and his Majesty 
had found it expedient to give it up to the United 
States he flattered himself that this action would 
not be prejudicial to him and that his salary might 
be transferred to the general establishment. This 
petition apparently seemed reasonable and his salary 
continued during the remainder of his life. 

Not long after he was retired on half pay and 
withdrew to Lybster where he spent the remainder of 
his days. 

Being still in line for promotion he was made a 
Major General September 25th, 1803 and he was 
made Lieut. General, July 25th, 1810, and at his death, 
which occurred January 31st, 1820, at the age of 84, 
he was the oldest officer of his rank in the British 
army. 

From a consideration of all the evidence now avail- 
able in the matter of the protested bills Sinclair was 
unfairly treated. Haldimand, although a good soldier, 
was a stubborn opinionated man whose training 
as a soldier inclined him to be overbearing and im- 
patient of anything except the most exact obedience 
to his orders. In the face of the King's commission 
to Sinclair with the accompanying letter of Lord 
George Germaine, which made the Lieut. Governor 
the Commandant entitling him to outrank any officer 
under a Brigadier General, he refused to recognize 
any military authority in the position. Although 



40 PATRICKSINCLAIR 

admitting the great importance of placating the 
Western Indians, and having himself no personal 
knowledge of the difficulties of the situation, he 
thought his orders issued from a thousand miles 
away should be implicitly obeyed. 

It is clear that Sinclair did not understand until 
the Board put in its appearance at Mackinac that 
he was doing anything more than the necessities of 
the situation required, in view of the fact that the 
government agencies were often so dilatory and 
neglectful as to leave the far distant post short or 
entirely lacking, and from his reply to Haldimand's 
letter of June, 1781, it is apparent that he understood 
his position as Lieut. Governor gave him some dis- 
cretion and this position was never contradicted by 
Haldimand. His good faith is manifest all through, 
and even if Haldimand were justified in claiming 
that Sinclair had acted in contravention of his orders, 
that furnished no excuse for not paying the traders 
who had in good faith furnished articles actually 
used by the government and ordered by a repre- 
sentative they had no reason to suspect. 

It seems probable that in the end the government 
paid the bills, as in 1786 the treasury at London 
called on Haldimand to furnish information why the 
bills had been protested, and to explain why he had 
continued McBeath at Mackinac in connection with 
Indian disbursements after he had repudiated his 
actions in connection with Sinclair. 

Sinclair married Catherine Stuart of Invernesshire 
and had four sons and one daughter. Three sons 



PATRICKSINCLAIR 41 

died unmarried, and one married but left two daughters 
who never married. His only lineal descendants are 
through the children of his daughter Susan who 
married David Laing, surgeon, of Thurso. 

A full length silhouette of General Sinclair taken 
after he had retired from the army shows a large 
handsome man of imposing presence. Family tradi- 
tion depicts him as an impulsive warm hearted as 
well as warm tempered individual, quick to resent 
and to punish, and equally quick to forgive, kindly 
and generous to dependents, philanthropic and help- 
ful to the needy and improvident. He lived to the 
good old age of 84 and his thoughts must frequently 
have gone back to this Inland Empire in which nearly 
a decade of his life was spent, and in which he had 
wielded a wide influence, and had erected a monument 
still enduring. His name which was so closely con- 
nected with the early history of Michigan should be 
perpetuated and both Mackinac and St. Clair County 
should mark by proper memorials the name of Sin- 
clair as a most important one in their rolls of historic 
characters. 



mm 



